A single buffalo took the adage, “Don’t mess with mama bear,” literally as she fought against three lions who tried to steal her calf in Tanzania.

Despite being outnumbered, a buffalo fought against three lions who had grabbed her calf as they crept up on the herd. Even though most of them managed to escape, one buffalo remained with the young calf and stood its ground with the lions in a stand-off to save the youngster.

The ordeal, which lasted around 90 seconds, shows footage of the mother buffalo charging horns-first at the circling lions with one of them eventually snatching the young calf away between its jaws.

Undeterred, the buffalo continues to ram the lions saving the calf from becoming the lions’ next meal. And it wasn’t long before the rest of the herd arrived for a dramatic rescue forcing the lions to realize the fruitlessness of their situation at finding themselves surrounded by the 1,000-pound beasts.

I guess the saying, “Don’t mess with mama buffalo,” in this case, is true.